Month: June 2013

Hanging out with the boys in the local the other day, we got to talking about what Bibi will do about replacing Iran, now that it’s gone all moderate and wussy on us. Several wild ideas were tossed around before I, the practical one among us, suggested that we take a scientific approach. Understand the importance of Iran to Bibi and you will find the answer to your question. Thus spoke I.

The scientific approach, being demanding on the brain cells, required another round of beer and ample doses of nicotine. When that was out of the way, we got down to serious thinking. Having been brought up on a diet of cognitive crap and behavioral bullshit, most of us immediately began framing the problem in oedipal terms. Bibi, we surmised, wants to destroy Iran (his father) because they’re both competing for the love of his mother.

Nelson Mandela , the iconic peacemaker, has taken risks, accepted compromises, overcome his prejudices and left the ‘prison’ of hatred and bitterness behind. If only Israel’s leaders would even consider learning from him.

Printed in Haaretz newspaper, June 12, 2013

http://www.haaretz.com/opinion/what-israel-won-t-learn-from-mandela-s-legacy.premium-1.529353

Last night I was privileged to attend the Tel Aviv premiere of “Hastening the End,” a new play by my friend Motti Lerner.

It was a harrowing experience. I imagine that a colonoscopy administered without an anesthetic might provide a similar sensation of unwelcome and agonizing intrusion – particularly if it detects huge, ugly lumps of malignancy. A highly necessary medical procedure, but one that results in pain, despair and indignity.

“Hastening the End” deals with the murderous rampage of Baruch Goldstein and the spiritual and intellectual milieu in which he operated. Goldstein was an American-born doctor, a settler living in Kiryat Arba, adjacent to Hebron, and a prominent member of the fascist Kach movement found by Meir Kahane. One morning in 1994, Goldstein entered the Cave of the Patriarchs mosque in Hebron wearing an army uniform and carrying a rifle and proceeded to open fire on the Moslem worshippers, killing 29 and wounding 125. He was beaten to death by the enraged crowd.